A needle exchange program in any community can be a way to practice harm reduction in the growing addicted population and decrease the odds intravenous drug users will contract HIV and hepatitis C. Many people say that needle exchange programs are a critical part of the solution to IV drug users sharing contaminated syringes. Nonetheless, people who inject drugs are stigmatized by the public and, unfortunately, by some health care professionals and we still have some city officials claiming that addiction is a moral or character weakness
Some opponents say needle exchange programs will destroy neighborhoods or turn communities into havens for drug addicts. Addiction touches more lives than ever before. Addiction is in more families than ever before There is a way to help. Needle exchange programs are controversial. They are…show more content… Many in the depths of drug use don’t know the path to recovery and would not be introduced to the information about treatment centers and other services if it were not for the needle exchange programs. The most severe, chronic stage of substance-use disorder, in which there is a substantial loss of self-control, as indicated by compulsive drug taking despite the desire to stop taking the drug. In the DSM-5, the term addiction is synonymous with the classification of severe substance-use disorder. It is a real diagnosis. .
Among persons who inject drugs (PWID) effective when programs are combined with other prevention services such as behavior-change counseling and addiction treatment services. PWID who can substantially reduce their risk of acquiring and transmitting HIV, HBV, HCV, and other blood-borne infections by using a sterile needle or syringe for every injection. Research shows that barriers such as prescription requirements and legal restrictions on needle possession and distribution can prevent access to clean needles and syringes. cdc.gov/policy/cleans
